Yes it was a whole five weeks before I got back to the gym. As we know the last entry was about my falling hard and fast off the wagon. I was burned out on exercise and eating the right stuff.
A week ago I finally made it back to the gym and the equalizer: Kettle bell.
It felt right and I didn't secretly hope the instructor would cancel at the last minute. I was glad to be at the gym, again. I accepted the punishment that is kettle bell and it felt good. My shirt was soaking wet at the end and I knew the next day I'd be sore, but I didn't mind. That was good as it hadn't been that way for a few weeks before I took my break. New lesson learned. I was trying to make these life changes too fast. I was not listening and it ended up breaking down the good work and making it impossible to succeed.
So note to self. For now continue to stick to the previous schedule but make some adjustments. I'll still be going to Kettle bell twice a week but for the summer will be spending more time outside on the other days. Walking and biking mostly with the occasional home workouts. These workouts could be lifting weights or doing body weight stuff such as planks or Turkish get-ups. Still meeting Lorinda on Saturdays and then hoping to once a week work out to the program we did on Sat.
Making a small change to the food program. I've stopped eating the container of yogurt between breakfast and lunch. Also I've added beans to the frittata that is eaten at breakfast. Mondays have changed to the lite eating day. I am starting off with a protein smoothie (protein powder, 2-bananas, some frozen strawberries, blueberries, and black cherries with chia seeds thrown in for fun). I drink half of that and then take the rest to work for the morning break. I follow that up at lunch with a Mexicali salad from Trader Joes. Then for dinner I have a Greek yogurt, mixing in more chia seeds and maybe some peanut butter. This food plan starts the week off on the right foot and helps me make better decisions the rest of the week, at least until the weekend.
I'm experimenting with Myfitnesspal. This is a website where you can enter in your workouts and food eaten during the day and it puts all together and lets you know how you're doing according to your goals. Not exactly perfect but I'll give it a shot and see if it helps any.
Here's' the latest workout we did:
These are combination exercises.
So 10 reps of each then rest and repeat a total of 3 or 4 times then rest before the next exercise:
Squat holding a kettle bell 20lbs
Upright row kettle bell 20lbs Hold the kettle bell with both hands facing your body then lift from the waist to your chest
Front raise kettle bell 20lbs again holding the KB with both hands extended raise to shoulder level
Next: again 10 reps each
Lunges (either stepping forwards or backwards) with a bicep curl at the bottom of the lunge. Hold a 12lb dumbbell in each hand and in the bottom of the lunge curl the weight. These a fairly tough, I started with 15lbs which is a standard weight for me doing bicep curls but changed to 12lbs after the second set. Rest and get ready for the last set.
Last set:
Again this is a 10rep set.
Squat this time with the kettle bell held by the "horns".
Next holding the kettle bell in two hands press it overhead into a shoulder press,
then keep the kettle bell extended over head and do a triceps extension bending at the elbow with the kettle bell going behind your head. Keep your elbows pointing forward.
So there we go another workout.
